Posted on 01/06/2010 6:05:08 AM PST by moose2004
Republicans look like they’ve landed their top recruit in the North Dakota Senate race: Popular Gov. John Hoeven is letting his political allies know that he’s preparing to run for the seat of retiring Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.)
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
Can put that one in the book!
Lets see how the boy emperor plays when its not by just his rules...
Yeah!
Slam dunk!
Yes! There’s one.
Republicans gain one in North Dakota; Dems hold one on Connecticut.
Republicans gain one in North Dakota; Dems hold one in Connecticut.
One with hopefully many to follow.
Hey, with all these dim-rats deserting watch for a blitzkreig of socialism from the Obamanator and friends - will make the Nazis look like whimps...BOHICA...
I disagree, Richard Blumenthal has the charisma of cold dishwater. He’s a perfect AG, he’s a careful lawyer through and through, but he is one of the most boring humans on the planet. I’d say the Repubs still have a very good chance at picking up this seat.
I want to go on record now saying that Republicans pick up 7 Senate seats in November and retake the House.
I think there is a decent chance (perhaps 1 in 3) that Brown takes the seat in MA on the 19th. In that case, I predict a swing of 8 seats, which is close to the maximum possible.
7 would be awesome. Here’s my list of vulnerable Dems for 2010:
Harry Reid - Nevada
Michael Bennett - Colorado
Open Seat in Illinois
Open Seat in North Dakota
Kirsten Gillibrand - New York
Open Seat Connecticut
Arlen Specter - Pennsylvania
Open Seat Delaware
Evan Bayh - Indiana (I’ll go out on a limb and put Bayh in this column, he voted for the “stimulus” and the Senate version of health care reform)
Blanche Lincoln - Arkansas
Barbara Boxer - California (obviously she has to be favored to win again, but CA’s economy is so deep in the toilet that she cannot be considered a shoe in)
There are a lot of senior citizens there who aren't happy about this Health Care Bill, cutting their Medicare.
that’s 11 Dems even without MA which is a longshot but certainly plausible. The odds are against coming anywhere close to running the table, and yet I would not be surprised if Dems lost 8 of these 12.
My brother, a conservative Hoosier, tells me that an Op-Ed posted online by Bayh (Indie Star?) recently was greeted with hundreds of online comments that were 100% pure anger. He says the wrath exhibited there was beyond anything he would have expected.
This year I don’t know that any Democrat is safe, including the MA Senate seat being voted on in 2 weeks. I must say that I just can’t wait!
I agree with you on Bayh’s chances. After supporting Obama on his “stimulus plan” (twice, $787 billion plus an additional $400 billion) and now voting for the Senate version of Obamacare there is no way the Indiana Senator can depend on his famous family name to get him elected or re-elected to anything. He cannot fool anyone any longer into believing he is a true centrist moderate. He has the same problems that Blanche Lincoln has in Arkansas. Over the years Lincoln has carefully cultivated a centrist image back home, an example is her support for the 2nd Amendment. But in reality her voting record is clearly liberal and tows the Dem party, Harry Reid and Barack Obama line.
Politico is repotting today that Hoeven will be announcing his Senate candidacy later today. It’s also reporting that Cramer will be running against Pomeroy. Sounds like a GOP sweep in ND.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31339.html
Now we just need Ed Schafer to run in 2012 against Conrad (or one of the other GOP statewide officials). It will be interesting to see if Conrad voluntarily retires.
“Now we just need Ed Schafer to run in 2012 against Conrad (or one of the other GOP statewide officials).”
Schafer could have taken Dorgan out in 2004, but chose not to run. What’s Schafer been up to the last few years?
He succeeded Mike Johanns as Dubya’s last Agriculture Secretary.
Oh, that’s right. So that covers, what, 2007-2008? I hope he was doing something awfully important prior to that that he refused to run against Dorgan in 2004 (or against Conrad in 2000 for that matter).
Might be personal reasons why he didn’t run. He was apparently doing several things from the 2000-07 period, briefly serving at one point as an aide to the Secretary of the Army. Of course, I also noticed he’ll be 66 in 2012, so it’s possible he may again decline to run, not wanting to spend his retirement years in DC. He really should’ve run in either 2000 or 2004.
Schafer really should run against Conrad even if it’s for a single term. 2012 would be too soon for the ND GOP to have any other first-tier candidates, but by 2018 we’ll hopefully have another two-term governor ready to run for the Senate, as well as three-term Congressman Cramer just in case.
Hoeven’s Gubernatorial successor will be Jack Dalrymple. However, I can almost guarantee you Dalrymple won’t run for the Senate in 2018. Why ? He’ll be 70.
Will Dalrymple run for Governor in 2010?
You mean 2012 ? Hoeven will be leaving mid-term. I don’t know, I’d presume it depends if he likes the job. He’s waited a quarter-century in elective office to make it to Governor. My presumption is that he’ll run in ‘12 and perhaps retire in ‘16 when he’s 68, although he might decide to serve clear until 2020. There’s no term limits for Governor in ND.
Yes, I meant 2012. If Dalrymple doesn’t run in 2012 (á la Schweiker in PA), or loses in the primary, then the new ND governor would be in his second term in 2018.
If he does run for governor in 2012, then the ND governor in 2018 will be either a 70-year-old Dalrymple or a Republican in only his second year as governor, and we’d have to look to Congressman Cramer for a first-tier candidate.
Presuming there is a GOP Governor elected in 2016. The Dems could mount an effective argument that it will have been 28 years since they last elected a Dem in that office by that year, and party fatigue almost always sets in at some point.
Good point.
But I still think that we’re better off with Schafer running against Conrad in 2012 even if he only serves one term and we need to find someone else to run for the seat in 2018.
Wasn’t Conrad also involved in Countrywide along with “Friend of Anglo” Chris Dodd? Shouldn’t there plenty of dirt on him to bring down his poll numbers that even a lower tier candidate could beat him?
Yes, he was a player in that mess.
As I theorized, it’s quite possible that he may simply retire in ‘12, especially once his votes contrast dramatically with Hoeven’s.
You’re right, someone like the state AG could beat Conrad in 2012.
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